Rapid processing becomes more and more important and therefore the thickness of the light-sensitive hydrophilic colloid layers of a photographic film is reduced and the hardening level is increased. However this causes disadvantages related with pressure sensitivity in the dry state before or in the wet state during processing. Scratch formation in the wet state often occurs and a solution for this may be offered by coating a thicker antistress layer with an increased amount of binder e.g. gelatin. Although these increased amounts have the advantage of giving rise to more surface glare after processing, an inadmissable contamination or sludge formation may occur in the processing solutions. Moreover a thicker antistress layer may retard the processing, resulting in a decreased developability, and drying velocity.
It has been established however that if the processing proceeds in developer and fixer solutions containing hardening agents that after treatment with said solutions and rinsing the film material water is spreaded unevenly on the surface of the processed film material. As a consequence unevenly dried water spots remain on the film after the drying step at the end of the processing cycle as so called "water spot defects".
It has been established otherwise that if the processing proceeds with solutions free from hardening agents problems related with surface characteristics occur as e.g. lack of surface glare and, even more important, unevenness in glare over the processed surface after rapid drying. A solution therefore can be found in EP-A 0 806 705, wherein a method has been disclosed of processing an image-wise exposed light-sensitive silver halide material by the steps of developing, fixing in a fixer solution containing less than 4 g per liter of aluminum ions expressed as an equivalent amount of aluminum sulphate, rinsing and drying; characterized in that said material comprises a support and on one or both sides thereof at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer and a gelatinous protective antistress layer, wherein said antistress layer comprises at least one polymer latex in such an amount that there is a ratio by weight of latex to gelatin is from 0.5 to 1.5 and wherein said material is hardened to such an extent that its swelling degree after immersing said material for 3 minutes in demineralized water of 25.degree. C. is not more than 300% (a condition which does even not express very high hardening levels). When no aluminum ions are present in the fixer solution as in hardener free processing the problem of "water spot defects" is not as stringent as in the presence thereof.
From practical experience it has been pointed out however that that the presence of a polymer latex in the protective antistress layer in order to avoid uneven surface glare or gloss as set forth in EP-A 0 806 705 leads to lack for developability of the emulsion crystals coated in the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer(s) of the silver halide photographic material which causes problems, especially in rapid processing applications.